1917 and 1925: HAMILTON TOWNSHIP'S NOTORIOUS "CLAY PITS"

 

"Dogtown:" Back in the late 19th and early 20th century the area where today's Hamilton Police Station and the Hamilton Library are located, and more specifically the area we know of today as "downtown Hamilton was known as "Dogtown." It was located near the intersection of White Horse-Mercerville Road and encompassed the area eastward and presumably was part of what we know of today as the "Morton Tract."  The strange neighborhood earned that strange name due to the fact that there were apparently a proliferation of dogs running loose around the area. Dogtown was also one of Hamilton's historic and notorious "Clay Pits." Trenton was a very viable pottery center back in the aforementioned late 19th and into the mid 20th century. Potteries needed very densely composed clay for use as "saggers;" a necessary product needed in molding pottery. I have been searching for historic information on this little known area of Hamilton and found the two articles above which will give a very detailed glimpse into the history of that old neighborhood and it's importance to the local pottery industry. On a personal note, the abandoned clay pits provided a very dangerous swimming area for many young boys back in the day. Mom Glover made it perfectly clear that the Glover boys were to avoid the hazardous swimming area which in later years had filled up with water and in many areas of the water equally hazardous Cedar stumps under the water. I remember when a Kuser School
student was killed when he drowned in those waters. I remember the clay pits as being very close to the area where the Hamilton Elks building and the office suites are located.

1925: HAMILTON TOWNSHIP'S HISTORIC "CLAY PITS"

Did you know that the Hamilton Township Public Library is located in an area once known as "Dogtown?"
The Morton Tract is also included as being part of Dogtown as was the fabled "Clay Pits" in the area of Kuser Road and White Horse-Mercerville Road. Back in the early 20th century, there was a very profitable business conducted there, selling clay to the many potteries in Trenton, and indeed, locations far removed from the Dogtown area. The fascinating article will tell a pretty detailed story. 

THE NOTORIOUS "CLAY PITS:" TOM CARROLL REMEMBERS

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Hamilton's "Clay Pits" were the source of a thick, fudge consistency clay used in the bustling Trenton pottery industry for use as "saggers." Saggers were a necessary part of pottery production. The property was owned by a gentleman by the name of J.D. Jones who capitalized on the rich clay found underground in that area just off Kuser Road near the present Hamilton Elks building and the adjoining office complex.

"The Pits" were strictly off limits when I was a boy. Even though we often walked that narrow two lane road known as Kuser Road for many miles, the Clay Pits were a "no-no." As I recall, I was in the seventh grade when a Kuser School boy dived into the reddish, cedar infested water and was killed instantly as he slammed his head against an underwater tree stump. That incident was enough to dissuade even the bravest of our neighborhood kids to stick with Gropp's Lake, the Woodlawn Pool, or the Gravel Pits over in Morrisville.

Old time Hamiltonian Tommy Carroll has written a very detailed and interesting story about his recollections of "the Pits," and was kind enough to give me permission to post it. THANKS TOM!

Tom writes:

The Clay Pits

The Clay Pits that I remember from the late 1940's were located east of road in the general area of the present Hamilton Township municipal complex. The rough boundaries were Kuser Road, Whitehorse Mercerville Road and Cypress Lane. The dirt road leading back into the pits was on the east side of Kuser Road just south of the present Hamilton Bowling Lanes.

To have an understanding of the area at the time it helps to realize that this part of Hamilton was wooded and very marshy. Interstate Route 295 was twenty-five years in the future, Colonial Fire Company had its firehouse on Liberty Street, just two doors from Newkirk Avenue. The Lenhardt farm on Kuser Road was a large going concern producing corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggs and kids. Mr. and Mrs. Lenhardt had the foresight to augment their workforce with the many sons that joined the family over the years. Most St. Anthony's grammar school graduates in the forties and fifties had the good fortune to have at least one Lenhardt as a classmate.

I focus on Kuser Road because our route to the Clay Pits was east on Hamilton Avenue, crossing Liberty Street at "the point" and make a right on Kuser Road. It was about a mile out to the left onto the road into the Clay Pits.

Kuser Road was a rough macadam road only arbitrarily two lane. The number of homes (no businesses) from Hamilton Avenue to Whitehorse Mercerville Road were probably less then fifteen on both sides of the road.

We rode there on our bikes, usually loaded down with fishing pole, tackle box, can of worms and high hopes. If we stayed to late in the evening the mosquitoes were so fierce that they enforced our father's curfew time. Day trips included sandwiches and an army surplus canteen of water. Mom slipped in a candy bar on occasion.

St. Anthony's high school did not exist on Kuser Road or any other road. Catholic grammar school graduates could continue on to high school at Cathedral or Trenton Catholic.

I don't know how long it had been since clay extraction activities ceased in the pit area but in our excursions all operations were long abandoned. The big attraction being that many of the pits where filled with water. There were ponds of various sizes. My brother George and I put our heads together and have a combined memory of pits names that included "Baby Pond", "The Ocean", and "The Bathtub". I'm sure there were other names but our recollections are limited. Some pits were great for fishing and others for skinny-dipping.

In some of the ponds the water was so clear it was easy to see to the bottom. You had only to lay your worm directly in front of the target "Sunny" to generate some action. Sunfish, bass, catfish and pickerel along with turtles and frogs were fairly abundant.

Additional educational opportunities were sometimes provided by teenage couples who arrived in cars. Driving for us was so far in the future that we spent little time thinking about the subject. However the "parking " couples were oblivious of us and didn't seem to be aware of our interest in them. We accepted these instructional opportunities as useful lessons for the future.

On the down side was the possibility of roving bands of "Big Kids". They could present a problem depending on the size of the band and their mood. "Big Kids" were at the top of the food chain in any situation of a competitive nature. Of course if an older sibling was in the band it was actually a plus to have Big Kid allies in the neighborhood.

Visits to the Clay Pits were always approved with the warning to "be careful, people have drowned out there". I think our parents were somewhat comfortable with our explorations knowing that we could both swim by the time we ventured that far unsupervised. I'm not sure what their comfort level would have been if they were privy to all our escapades in those days as we wandered about semi rural Hamilton.

Tom Carroll March 2003

Hamilton's "Dogtown"

Dogtown was located on Kuser Road near the intersection of Whitehorse-Mercerville Road. In fact, the Hamilton Library and Hamilton Police Headquarters are located on part of the land. Years ago, I wrote a column on the fabled "clay pits" and "Dogtown." Mr. Earl Williams read it, and added his reminiscences of the area. Fascinating reading....thanks, Earl!